Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition starring on the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World (2014–2017), and signed with the Disney-owned Hollywood Records. She released her debut single, “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying” in 2014, followed by four studio albums: Eyes Wide Open (2015), Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I (2018), and Singular: Act II (2019); three of her singles—”Alien”, “Almost Love”, and “Sue Me”—topped the US Dance Club Songs chart.
Carpenter moved to Island Records in 2021 and released the standalone single “Skin”, which became her first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100. Her fifth album, Emails I Can’t Send (2022), was supported by the US Pop Airplay top-10 singles “Nonsense” and “Feather”. She opened for Taylor Swift at the Eras Tour in 2023, and achieved wider commercial success with her sixth album Short n’ Sweet (2024). It became her first album to debut atop the US Billboard 200 chart and spawned the Billboard Global 200 number one singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”.
Carpenter has appeared in films such as the comedy Adventures in Babysitting (2016), the coming-of-age drama The Hate U Give (2018), the road drama The Short History of the Long Road (2019), the musical drama Clouds (2020), and the thriller Emergency (2022). She has also starred in the Netflix productions Tall Girl (2019), Tall Girl 2 (2022), and Work It (2020), the latter of which she executive-produced. On Broadway, she played a lead role in the musical Mean Girls (2020).
Early life
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter was born on May 11, 1999, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, to David and Elizabeth Carpenter, and raised in East Greenville. She is a niece of actress Nancy Cartwright. She has three older sisters and was home schooled. Around the age of 10, she began posting videos on YouTube of herself singing Christina Aguilera and Adele songs. Her father built a recording studio for her to fuel her passion for music. In 2009, she placed third in a singing contest The Next Miley Cyrus Project, run by Miley Cyrus.
Career
2011–2014: Breakthrough with Disney
Carpenter signing autographs at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina in 2014
Carpenter’s first acting role was in 2011 in a guest role on the NBC drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Around the same time, she performed as part of the Hunan Broadcasting System’s Gold Mango Audience Festival program in China, singing “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”. In the summer of 2012, Carpenter had a recurring role in the Fox sitcom The Goodwin Games. She appeared in Horns (2013) and recorded “Smile” for the compilation album Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust, inspired by the Disney Fairies film series; the song charted on Radio Disney. She had a recurring role as Princess Vivian in Sofia the First, for which she performed the song “All You Need” with Ariel Winter.
In January 2013, Carpenter was cast in a Disney Channel series Girl Meets World, a spin-off of Boy Meets World, as Maya Hart. The show consisted of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 20, 2017. Carpenter recorded the show’s theme song alongside her co-star Rowan Blanchard. Prior to 2014, Carpenter signed a five-album deal with Disney-owned then-label Hollywood Records.
In March 2014, Carpenter released her debut single, “Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying”, which was co-written by Meghan Trainor. The single received positive reviews and titled her debut EP of the same name that was released in April 2014.
In July 2014, Carpenter contributed lead vocals to the Disney Channel Circle of Stars cover version of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”. She recorded “Stand Out” for the Disney Channel movie, How to Build a Better Boy, which premiered in August 2014. She released her first Christmas single, “Silver Nights”, that same year.
Artistry
Influences
Carpenter named R&B as a genre that often influences her work. She cited Christina Aguilera and Rihanna as her biggest musical influences. Carpenter stated that Aguilera’s 2002 song “Beautiful” helped her “showcase and develop [her] own voice”, citing Aguilera’s vocals as an inspiration. She has also named Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Etta James as early musical influences, and cited Taylor Swift and Lorde as her songwriting influences. She claimed that Swift’s live performances and work ethic have inspired her. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Carpenter said Madonna, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Aguilera were some of the artists who introduced her to pop music.
SABRINA CARPENTER URL LINKS:
Website: http://www.sabrinacarpenter.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinacarpenter
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sabrinacarpenter
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrinacarpenter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabrinacarpenter
X: https://www.x.com/sabrinaannlynn